Silica glass

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Figure 3: Basic building block of a silica glass network. Silicon ions bond to oxygen atoms, forming tetrahedral structures that are connected by a bridging oxygen atom. The tetrahedra revolve around the oxygen-silicon bond, while the angle at which the two tetrahedra are connected also varies.

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amorphous form

...group of elements called chalcogens.) The model was introduced as a schematic analogue for the network structure of the oxide glasses. The prototypical oxide glass is amorphous SiO
2, or
silica glass. (Quartz, which is present in sand, is a crystalline form of SiO
2.) In amorphous SiO
2 each silicon atom is bonded to four oxygen atoms, and each oxygen atom is...

optical fibres

...tolerances on core and cladding thickness. Although the manufacture of low-grade fibre from transparent polymer materials is not uncommon, most high-performance optical fibres are made of fused
silica glass. The refractive index of either the core or the cladding is modified during the manufacturing process by diluting pure
silica glass with fluorine or germanium in a process known as...

oxide glasses

...based on silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO
2), a mineral that is found in great abundance in nature—particularly in quartz and beach sands. Glass made exclusively of silica is known as
silica glass, or vitreous silica. (It is also called fused quartz if derived from the melting of quartz crystals.) Silica glass is used where high service temperature, very high thermal shock...